Journalist beaten by unknown assailants in Tanzania

Nairobi, March 7,
2013--Authorities in Tanzania must immediately investigate a vicious attack
on a veteran journalist in Dar es Salaam, the capital, on Tuesday night, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Absalom Kibanda, the
chairman of the Tanzania
Editors Forum and managing editor of the media company New Habari Corp., was headed home at night
when three unidentified assailants smashed the window of his car and pulled him
out of the vehicle, according to local journalists who interviewed him. The men
attacked
Kibanda with a gun and sharp metal objects.

News accounts
reported that Kibanda immediately sought treatment at a local hospital for a severe eye injury, a
severed fingertip, and broken teeth. The journalist was
subsequently taken to a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, to receive
further treatment.

Inspector General of
Police Said Mwema said he had assigned four detectives to conduct
investigations, but that no arrests had been made, news
reports said.

"Authorities must do
their utmost to track down the perpetrators of this brutal attack against
Absalom Kibanda," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes.

Kibanda told local
journalists that one of the assailants had wanted to shoot him, but that the
other two had discouraged him, the reports said. Kibanda also said that he
suspected the attack was linked to his journalistic work because nothing had
been stolen. Neville Meena, secretary-general of the editors forum, told CPJ
that Kibanda's car, iPad, and two mobile phones were not taken.

Kibanda has also
faced recent legal harassment. News accounts reported that Kibanda and two of
his former colleagues were scheduled to appear in court on March 6. The
journalists face sedition charges,
filed under the draconian
1976 Newspaper Act, in connection with a column published in the private
Swahili daily Tanzania Daima that
claimed authorities had misused police to block demonstrations by an opposition
party. The case has been postponed until March 26, news reports said.

The Tanzania
Editors Forum is holding a meeting on Friday to conduct an investigation into
the attack and determine how to help the editor.

For more data and analysis on Tanzania,
visit CPJ's Attacks on the Press.